International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Volume 4 Issue 6 Pilgrimages in India: Celebrating Article 11 journeys of plurality and sacredness

2016

Travelling Through Caste

Raj Kumar Delhi University, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Kumar, Raj (2016) "Travelling Through Caste," International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage: Vol. 4: Iss. 6, Article 11. doi:https://doi.org/10.21427/D7D70B Available at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol4/iss6/11

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. © International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage ISSN : 2009-7379 Available at: http://arrow.dit.ie/ijrtp/ Volume 4(vi) 2016 Travelling Through Caste

Raj Kumar

Delhi University [email protected] With its peculiar caste system, India is considered the most stratified of all known societies in human history. This system is ‘peculiar’ as it divides human beings into higher and lower castes and this division is backed by certain religious sanctions based on the sociological concepts of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’. While the higher caste is associated with ‘purity’, the lower caste is associated with ‘pollution’. The people of the lower castes are not allowed to undertake religious journeys and yet are expected to enable the pilgrimages of the higher castes by playing the role of laborers. Radical Bhakti saint-poets like Kabir, Chokamela, Tukaram and Ravidas, among others, pointed out the futility of undertaking pilgrimages. Instead of purifying the body so that the soul can go to heaven, they urged people to listen to their inner self and build an inclusive society based on equality and social justice. My paper focuses on Indian pilgrimages as seen through the lens of caste narratives. I address the relationship between caste and religion, with a specific focus on the roles undertaken by the lower castes when the higher castes undertake pilgrimages. I raise the question of the possibility of studying the idea of pilgrimage without caste references. Key Words: caste system, religion, pilgrimage, social justice, Hinduism and caste practices, Dalits

Introduction equals anything suffered by her people when the British were here; she has been capable of Geoffrey Moorhouse, a Fellow of the Royal Society of unparalleled generosity to her last imperial Literature, London, in one of his travel books entitled, rulers, but she bickers endlessly and meanly Om: An Indian Pilgrimage (1994:15), describes India’s with her closest neighbor and twin; she gave birth to the creed of massive non-violent protest many contradictions in the following manner: and once practiced this effectively, yet in the No other country has lived with so complicated first generation of independence she has a past so equably, assimilating everything that assassinated three of her own leaders, starting has happened to it, obliterating naught, so that with the begetter of satyagraha … not even the intricate histories of European states have produced such a rich pattern as that Such contradictions and anomalies run through India bequeathed by the Mauryas, the Ashokas, the from end to end and this quote aptly captures the Pahlavas, the Guptas, the Chalukyas, the milieu of the country. At the heart of India’s Hoysalas, the Pandyas, the Cholas, the conundrum is religion and it too, flourishes here as Mughals and the British - to identify only a few nowhere else. Other countries may have surrendered of the peoples who have shaped India’s themselves to a particular religion, but in India the inheritance. Nor is there another land that constantly provokes in the stranger such elation various faiths are deeply entrenched and acknowledged and despair, so much affection and anger, by passionately. Virtually everyone practices some form powerful contrasts and irreducible opposites of of devotion. An Indian without a spiritual dimension to behavior: wickedness and virtue, caring and his or her life is exceedingly rare. As Moorhouse adds: indifference, things bewitching and disgusting and terrifying and disarming, often in quick By this means the wretched can entertain the succession. India has nuclear power and other possibility of improvement, and are sustained in advanced technology close by some of the most their wretchedness until something better comes obscene slums in creation; she has never failed their way in another form, or until they are to hold democratic elections at the appointed even more blessedly released from the cycle of time, yet these too frequently elevate men whose life and death. The comfortable find in it a own votes can be bought with rupees and other justification of their prosperity and an emoluments; she has a high and mighty self- assurance that their submission will continue to esteem and a taste for moral posturing which bring them rewards. The most truly spiritual

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merely hope that with perseverance they will rules and regulations prescribed in the Dharma one day achieve enlightenment. Incomparable Shastras which are also called Smritis. Dharma and inimitable she is; but in this as in much (ethics / religion) and karma (action), paap (sin) and else, India is also our great paradigm punya (virtue), hell and heaven are some of its (Moorhouse, 1994:15-16). dominant ideologies. Hinduism in practice is full of binaries: believers versus non-believers, tradition That ‘great paradigm’ called India has several other versus modernity, sagun (ultimate being with contradictions which Moorhouse does not record, the attributes) versus nirgun (ultimate being without most important being the caste system. India is attributes), men versus women, upper caste versus considered the most stratified of all known societies. It lower caste, and so on. With these dualities it seems harbours one of the greatest separating forces to divide difficult to define what constitutes the core value in human beings into either higher or lower castes. This Hinduism. This is what Kireet Joshi writes in his book, peculiar division is backed by certain religious The Veda and Indian Culture, sanctions, based on the sociological concepts of ‘purity’ and ‘pollution’. These sanctions help the caste It is impossible to describe Indian spirituality system to renew its legitimacy even after it is and religion by any exclusive label. Even in its challenged. As a result, the caste system, with its advanced forms it cannot be described as myriad variations of superordination and monotheism or monism or pantheism or subordination, with confusions and contradictions, rites nihilism or transcend(en)talism, although each and rituals, vices and virtues, dogmas and doubts, one of these is present in some subtle or professions and protests, is able to persist in all regions pronounced way. Even the spiritual truths behind the primitive forms such as those of of India with different degrees of rigidity. animism, spiritism, fetishism and totemism have been allowed to play a role in its complex The focus of this paper is Indian pilgrimages as seen totality, although their external forms have through the lens of caste narratives. Drawing upon been discouraged and are not valid or multiple sources, I study the interrelationship between applicable to those who lead an inner mental pilgrimage and caste and I raise the following and spiritual life . . . (Joshi, 1991:57). questions: How do we understand caste while reading the literature of pilgrimage? Since caste devalues Hinduism and Caste Practices labour, what specific roles do the lower castes play when the higher castes undertake pilgrimages? What Since Hinduism meticulously follows the principle of are the relationships between caste and religion? Is purity and pollution, it is the upper caste men who there any way we can study pilgrimage without making always have privilege over the lower castes, Dalits and reference to caste? These and other questions will be women in day-to-day religious practice. The Hindus raised while attempting an understanding of the politics may deny it but that is a fact. And the history of it, of of travelling through caste. course, goes back to 200 BC when Manu codified all the inhumane and unethical laws against the Shudras Pilgrimage and Hinduism: An Introduction and Atishudras in the name of religion. His work was later known as the Manushastra or Manusmriti. It is Before beginning to discuss Indian pilgrimage and with the Manusmriti that the full elaboration of the caste, let us address the idea of pilgrimage itself. Why caste hierarchy can be seen. This was the beginning of do people undertake pilgrimage? Pilgrimage is Brahmanism. During this time Brahmans were given primarily a religious act and religious communities the highest status in society and caste divisions were across the world undertake this practice. In the Hindu enforced by the kings. The role of the king was seen to tradition, we hear of kings and queens as early as the be in protecting dharma, now interpreted as time of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata going to varnashrama dharma or the law of the castes (and religious places as pilgrims. ashrama or stages of life). To keep the upper caste interests intact, varnashrama dharma was often Since the focus of my paper is the inter-relationship supported, propagated and reinterpreted through the between caste and pilgrimage, let me briefly discuss Upanishads, Sutras, Smritis, and Puranas, which are some of the dominant traditions of Hinduism. We must today known in combination as the Dharma Shastra. have heard umpteen times that Hinduism is not a religion; it is a way of life. And since it is a way of life, Thus, through the centuries, the Dharma Shastra of the the everyday life of the Hindu is strictly governed by Hindus imposed a series of social, political, economic

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and religious restrictions on the lower castes, making whose sole purpose of existence was to serve the the ‘untouchables’ completely dependent on those interests of the upper castes. As a result, for centuries ‘above’ them. As a result, the Panchamas lived a life of this community remained permanently at the periphery physical degradation, insults and personal and social of society, even though they very much participated in humiliation. They were relegated to menial the production process. Thus, the people at the lowest occupations. They lived outside the village and were stratum were considered ‘untouchable’, but not the fed on the leftovers of the higher castes. Physical goods they produced. contact with the ‘untouchables’ was said to be ‘polluting’ and worse still, even their shadows were Challenges to Caste considered defiling. Even as late as the early part of the 20th century, Dalits had no access to public facilities At different points of times throughout history, the such as wells, rivers, roads, schools, markets, etc. The institution of caste has been questioned by philosophers and reformers whose views would create most perverted practice of ‘untouchability’ was that the background for either new religions or new systems which, at one time, compelled the ‘untouchables’ to tie of thought. The first challenge to the caste system an earthen pot around their neck so that their sputa should not fall to the earth and pollute others. Another came from a band of rationalists known as Lokayata such practice was the compulsion to tie a broom behind which literally means ‘restricted to the world of common experience or Charvakas’, which was them so that their footprints would be erased before established in the 6th century BCE. Headed by the others set their eyes on them. All these forced famous materialist philosopher Charvaka, the conditions made the Dalits destitute, deprived, and the most depressed section of the population. As a result, movement revolted against the slave system, caste exploitation, and the existence of God. The Lokayata they remained socially degenerate, economically propagated a materialistic philosophy as opposed to the impoverished, and servants of the upper classes. idealism of the Upanishads and the Vedas. They In ancient times, apart from monopolising state power preached the abolition of slavery, rational behaviour and property, the upper castes also made sure that and beliefs, rejecting all forms of sacrifices, rituals and learning and the use of Sanskrit language was ceremonies. Thus, the Lokayata emerged as a exclusively their privilege. The ‘untouchables’, the progressive and optimistic philosophy supporting the Shudras and women were barred access to this cause of the oppressed. language. Thus, Sanskrit, which was the repository of knowledge and wisdom, became a closely guarded During the 6th century BCE, both Jainism and Buddhism set for themselves the task of questioning terrain where no outsiders were permitted. Knowledge Brahmanic orthodoxy. The religious scriptures were and power are closely linked, Foucault has stressed. scrutinised in search of truth. Compared to Buddhism, For him, knowledge of all sorts is thoroughly enmeshed in the complex activity of domination: Jainism did not do much for the oppressed classes for the simple reason that it spread mainly among the What makes power hold good, what makes it traders and businessmen. Nevertheless it made a dent accepted, is simply the fact that it does not only in Brahmanism. weigh on us as a force that says no, but that it traverses and produces things. It induces In this sense the Buddha was the first social pleasure, forms knowledge, and produces discourse. It needs to be considered as a revolutionary who challenged Vedanta philosophy and productive network, which runs through the rejected the authority of the Vedas. His simple way of whole social body, much more than as a preaching righteousness of conduct over social negative instance whose function is repression tyranny, slavery, inequality, etc. made his philosophy (Foucault, 1984:119). understandable to the common people. The Buddha did not prevent any caste or class from becoming his This is precisely what happened in the history of Hindu followers. ‘Untouchables’ could find a respectable society. The hegemony of the high castes became so place in society for the first time by embracing pervasive because all knowledge was generated and Buddhism. The Buddha invited the poorest and the processed by them. People who enjoyed the fruits of lowliest to live and learn with princes and merchants, knowledge and power did not let it go out of their billionaires and proud Brahmans in the brotherhood of hands. Some of the immediate effects of this policy his Order. The humble craftsman or barber could rise were the non-proliferation of Sanskrit and the creation to be a philosopher and teacher in the noble scheme of of an outer group, the Shudras and the ‘untouchables’, the Buddha.

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It is unfortunate that in spite of its radical philosophy, (another contemporary of Ravidas) was a barber from Buddhism lost its battle with Brahmanism and was Uttar Pradesh; Tukaram (born in 1608) was a Kunbi appropriated by it. As a result, the teachings of the (peasant) from Maharashtra. The languages these saint- Buddha influenced Hindu religion and he was given a poets used for their songs, dohas and abhangas were high place in the Hindu pantheon as an avatara local languages spoken by the common people and (incarnation) of Vishnu. According to Swami Dharma very often they used metaphors connected with their Theertha, this happened because the Brahmans daily work. perceived a threat to their entrenched position from the popularity of Buddhism. Theertha writes: In order to prove how caste rules govern the everyday religious life of the Hindus I will now refer to an Odia When the whole country was basking in the literary text called Lakshmi Purana. sunshine of great ideals of brotherhood and a virtuous and beneficent life, when the king and Balaram Dasa’s Lakshmi Purana the commoner were cooperating in building a great Indian nation, when the sacred feeling of Written in the 16th century by an Odia saint-poet religious devotion and patriotic benevolence Balaram Dasa, the Lakshmi Purana deals with the roused by Buddhism were producing glorious rules and regulations that govern Puri’s Jagannath blossoms in the fields of science, literature, arts temple, a famous Hindu pilgrimage in Odisha. The text and architecture, when the people of India primarily raises issues relating to the religious rights of liberated from their bondage were carrying the joyful tidings of emancipation into distant lands Dalit women in Odisha. The story revolves around and filling the world with the fragrance of the Sriya Chandaluni, a Dalit woman who fasts and Buddha’s teachings, alas! in the land of that worships Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth and the Buddha, the Brahman priests were studiously reining deity of the Jagannath temple on a dasami engaged in polishing the chains of imperialism (10th day), in the month of Margashira. Pleased with and replenishing the armory of aggression and her devotion Lakshmi pays a visit to her ‘untouchable’ exploitation with Manu Shastras, Sukra Nitis, hut and blesses her. But when Lakshmi returns and Puranas, idolatrous temples, Kali worship and wants to enter into the temple, her own abode, she is institutions of wily priestcraft (Theertha, 1992:96). prevented by Jagannath and Balabhadra, her husband and elder brother-in-law, respectively. They accuse her Once Buddhism started declining, Hinduism laid of being ‘polluted’ because of her visit to a Dalit emphasis on caste distinctions, and it was Brahmanism, household. Having evicted Lakshmi from her home in the militant part of Hinduism, which took charge of the course of the story both the brothers suffer untold devising different sinister designs. It is believed that miseries till they realise that nobody should be treated Hindu reformers like Kumarilabhatt (8th century), Adi as ‘untouchable’. Sankaracharya (8th century), Ramanujacharya (12th century) and Madhavacharya (13th century) played a Balaram Dasa, by bringing a Dalit woman into the great role in attacking the various tenets of Buddhism centre of the debate, not only raises the caste question and at the same time propagating and consolidating the in the narrative but also underlines the significance of lost Hinduism. reading gender issues alongside caste. This is, perhaps, the reason why some critics like Satya P. Mohanty During the medieval period, the Bhakti movement consider Lakshmi Purana as a feminist text. Mohanty, (roughly from 8th to 18th century), which engendered for example, writes: radical thinkers and mystic reformers, was yet another Balaram Das(a)’s Lakshmi Purana is a feminist force that challenged the varna system and the text primarily because it shows a female stratification of human society on the basis of caste. goddess using her personal power to challenge The movement cut across barriers of caste, creed, the way society defines identities and rewards language and religion. Many of the well-known poets, virtue, and the way tradition - even when singers and saints in the Bhakti cults were from lower sanctioned by the Lord himself - understands castes: Namdev (13th-14th century) belonged to the our ascribed jati-identity and its implications for how we are to be treated (Mohanty, Shimphi (tailor) caste from Maharashtra; Chokhamela 2008:9). (13th-14th century) was a Mahar (‘untouchable’) also from Maharashtra; Kabir (AD 1398-1518) was a Even though caste liberals believe that Puri’s weaver from Uttar Pradesh; Ravidas (a contemporary Jagannath temple does not discriminate against anyone of Kabir) was a cobbler also from Uttar Pradesh; Sena on the basis of caste, creed and gender, it must be

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mentioned here that the lower castes, especially the the way the Hindu myths operate. Myths such as Sriya Dalits are not allowed to enter the temple even to this Chandaluni, Dasia Bauri and Shabari justify that day. James M. Freeman’s fascinating book on an Odia Hinduism as a religion is quite liberal in its principles Dalit’s life titled, Untouchable: an Indian Life History, because it can allow the ‘untouchables’ and the describes the situation. Muli, the narrator, happens to ‘tribals’ to have their fare share. But, we all know how be a member of the Bauri community who are Hinduism, especially Brahmanical Hinduism is a exploited by the upper castes due to their low social bundle of contradictions. What it preaches to the status. Citing various myths and legends, Muli and his Hindus is never practiced in their daily lives. One can community members are denied entry into temples, argue that there are many stories where the God including the Jagannath temple in Puri. Instead of himself does not believe in differentiating amongst his protesting against such perverted practices to reclaim devotees based on caste, creed and gender, but people their civil rights, Muli and his community continue to tend to ignore these stories and propagate division remain content with their degraded ritual status. In the based on caste for personal gain. And, hence, there is following passages Muli brings clarity to this issue: an ambivalent exploitative measure such as the caste system and its by-product, ‘untouchability’ practices. I remember granny as a smiling, peaceful, gentle person, and very religious; every Balarama Dasa wrote Lakshmi Purana at a time when evening, she set out her clay oil lamp for several radical Bhakti saint-poets of Odisha challenged deities, and offered them rice. She often fasted for the deities and visited many temples to the varna system and stratification of human society on worship deities, even though she was not the basis of caste. In fact, Balarama Das inherited a allowed in. From outside the temple she tradition which was started by Sudramuni Sarala Dasa watched, and gave her greetings. For four or (15th century) who was the pioneer of the social five years during the Shivaratri festival protest movement, which Odisha witnessed during (birthday of Shiva) she went to the medieval times. Sarala Dasa was known for three of Dhabaleswar temple, which stands in the his major works namely the Odia Mahabharata, middle of the Mahanadi River, and burned a Bilanka Ramayana, and Chandi Purana. He wrote clay lamp full of oil. She also went to Puri every two years or so to visit Lord Jagannath, but she these literary works in the language of the common never went inside the temple. I myself went into people taking into account the events of the recent past the outer compound of the Jagannath temple for and sundry mundane affairs, and focusing on their real the first time only in 1970. I did not go into the life situations. Thus, his work was a protest against the inner room; I have never seen anybody of my poets and the writers of the court whose medium was caste enter the temple compound before this Sanskrit, the language of dominance and power, and time (Freeman, 1979:124). against excessive concern with royal characters.

Contrary to expectations that Jagannath, the Lord of The protest expressed through the writings of Sarala the universe, is for all, including the poor and the Dasa was given a deeper edge by the writings of the underprivileged, it has been seen that the Odia ruling Panchasakha (five-fellow saint-poets) - Balarama class has always used the pervasive cult of Jagannath Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Achyutanda Dasa, Jasobanta to mould the consciousness of Dalits to a point that has Dasa and Ananta Dasa - who dominated Odia literature blunted the edge of their protests. The story of Sriya for a century (1450-1550). These five poets together Chandaluni, the legends of Dasia Bauri and many rejected the dominance of Sanskrit in literature and others testify to this. It may be mentioned here that espoused the cause of the vernacular as the medium of Dasia Bauri was a staunch follower of Jagannath. But expression. Thus, they made major contributions being a Dalit, he could not enter into the temple. towards the use of the Odia language. In fact, they Finally, Jagannath had to come out from the temple to followed the path that Sarala Dasa had cut in Odia meet his ‘untouchable’ disciple, of course at the dead literature as a pioneer and rendered the sacred books of hour of the night lest the puja pandas, the Brahmans the Hindus into the people’s languages in order to would see him and question his credentials as the god make them more widely available. Balaram Dasa’s of the upper castes. Dasia Bauri’s case is exactly like Jagmohan Ramayana and Lakshmi Purana, Jagannatha that of Shabari of the Ramayana who for the devotion Dasa’s Odia Bhagabata, Achyutananda Dasa’s of Rama, her beloved God, keeps collecting sweet Harivamsa, Jasobanta Dasa’s Premabhakti berries by tasting them one after another. It is quite Brahmagita and Ananta Dasa’s Hetudaya Bhagabata interesting that Rama, the Hindu God, pleased by her are the foremost examples in this direction. devotion, lovingly ate the already eaten fruits. This is

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The poets also protested against the rigidities of life in waiting, embraced him, led him to his breast. temples and monasteries, and sought to rise above the The night was spent in the union of the bhakt with the God, after which Vitthoba playfully dualistic debates reducing religion almost to the level removed his tulsi garland (a garland made of of an intellectual polemic and ignorant prejudice. In the basil seeds which the varkaris wear as a mark process, the poets faced opposition, criticism and even of their identity) and put it around Chokha’s conspiracy by the orthodox pundits who instigated neck. When the day dawned, he led him out of kings to create trouble for them. In spite of these the temple, still with the garland. Chokha, in a various repressive measures by the establishment, the state of bliss after this vouchsafing of divine movement could not be fully curbed, even though it love, lay down on the sands of the river in a had to compromise eventually with the dominant trance. At the temple the priests discovered that Vitthoba’s gold necklace had disappeared and Brahmanical forces. remembering that Chokha had been at the temple doors last, went into a tumult of rage Chokhamela’s Abhangs over the fact that the temple and deity were polluted and the necklace stolen. Search parties Chokhamela, a Mahar saint-poet of Maharashtra also found Chokha still dazed and draws our attention. Though there is no evidence to uncomprehending, but with a gold necklace suggest that Chokhamela ever protested against the around the neck. He was punished; tied to the traditional limits of Mahar village work, the internal bullocks and about to be dragged to death but evidence of his abhangs suggests some protest about for the animals who stood their ground, despite the whip lashing them. The story ends with the concept of ‘untouchablity’. In one of the abhangs Vitthoba revealing himself to the entire Chokhamela writes that he was born as an outcaste company, holding the bullocks by the horns Mahar because of his past karma. In another abhang he (Mokashi-Punekar, 2002:xv-xvi). addresses God saying: Chokha has written about the humiliating experiences Why have you thrown this challenge god? that he had from the upper caste Hindus. Due to his Solve this riddle of mine; existential conditions Chokha had to compromise with enter my shoes, know his low caste position and the social protest he wanted in your own self: to carry forward. But compared to Chokhamela, Kabir an outcaste, never compromised in attacking social inequalities be what rights do I enjoy? it due to caste, class, religion or gender. Kabir’s strong Says Chokha, note of dissent and protest against the existing reality, this low born the glaring disparity between the rich and poor, the human body every one drives away. discrimination by Brahmans and high caste Hindus Doubts prey towards the low castes, especially the ‘untouchables’, on my mind, and his emphasis on a direct relationship with God what can I do? without the mediation of Brahmans and Mullahs, i.e. (Mokashi-Punekar, 2002:14) the clerics whom he ridicules as greedy and ignorant, had a profound impact. In one of his verses Kabir asks: Even though Chokhamela was a great devotee of Lord Vitthoba, he was not allowed to enter into his temple Pandit, look in your heart for knowledge. Tell me where untouchability on pilgrimage. In fact, there is a story about when he Came from, since you believe in it . . . was heavily punished because the priests believed that Eighty-four hundred thousand vessels Chokhamela entered the temple at the dead of the night Decay into dust, while the potter and took away the god’s gold necklace. Finally, Keeps slapping clay Vitthoba comes to his rescue. The following is the On the wheel, and with a touch story told in this context: Cuts each one off. We eat by touching, we wash One day Chokha was standing at the door of By touching, from a touch the temple from morning till late in the evening, The world was born. somewhat hopeless and unusually cast down. So who’s untouched? asks Kabir. Towards nightfall, the priests locked up the (Hess and Singh, 1987:55) doors and went away. As Chokha stood there, still and lone, Vitthoba himself came out, exclaimed in distress to see Chokha patiently

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Kabir was opposed to all kinds of religious activities of Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices writes centring around God, including building temples and in another context: undertaking pilgrimages. He saw corruption in religious institutions whereby only the priestly classes In fact, it seems that a great many Hindus do not actively expect or even seek some post-mortem received advantages. The following poem is an ‘salvation’ or liberation. If at all, this is a example of his attitude towards Hindu religion and its distant ideal. Religiously, they are more beliefs and practices: concerned just to stay afloat as they continue Pandit, you’ve got it wrong. life’s journey over the hazardous waters of There’s no creator or creation there, samsara (theory of rebirth). Health, recovery no gross or fine, no wind or fire, from illness, contentment, economic security, no sun, moon, earth or water, consolation in distress, offspring, success in no radiant form, no time there, various ventures, protection from various no word, no flesh, no faith, dangers, possibly a happy rebirth - these are the no cause and effect, nor any thought things that occupy their religious attention. This of the Veda. No Hari or Brahma, is not to say that many do not look to moks(h)a no Shiva or Shakti, no pilgrimage in one form or another as a desirable goal. But and no rituals. No mother, father the fact is that we cannot generalise. Life’s ideal or guru there. Is it two or one? for the religious Hindu varies from context to Kabir says, if you understand now, context, from the sublime to the mundane. The you’re guru, I’m disciple’ Great and Ancient Banyan harbours birds of (Hess and Singh, 1987:56) every feather in its labyrinthine worlds (Lipner, 1994:324).

Like Kabir, Namdev, Tukaram, Ravidas and others Moksha is definitely an important aspect in Hindu raised caste questions within Hinduism and pointed out lives. And, therefore, the Hindus make as many the futility of undertaking sacred journeys. Instead of temples as possible in order to undertake pilgrimages. purifying the body so that the soul can go to heaven It is, therefore, important that to understand the they urged people to look inward, to listen to their dynamics of Indian pilgrimage one has to equally inner self and build an inclusive society based on understand the political economy of temple culture as equality and social justice. Ravidas has termed this well. new society as ‘Begumpura’. But Hindu society has hardly taken note of such dissenting voices. Suguna For upper caste Hindus, temples are the centres of Ramanathan in the foreword to On the Threshold: power. Therefore, they meticulously follow caste laws Songs of Chokhamela highlights the dichotomy thus: so that the purity of the temple remains intact. Dalits Bhakti poets and saints, ignoring caste, swept and women are two constituencies who, according to people off their feet but not for very long; caste caste laws, are considered dangerous. If temple entries distinctions still survive in this country. The are prohibited for them, how do they get salvation most elaborate set of rules and practices then? Julius Lipner brings out these paradoxes thus: governing human behavior towards others like, and different from, self were formulated, and The Hindu temple embraces a host of religious the system kept carefully in place by endogamy paradoxes: a temporal dwelling for the timeless to ensure that encroachments into one’s plot of divine; a multiple focusing, by virtue of its power were kept down. It was a highly practical many images, of one underlying divine source; ordering to keep an economic and social a descent into the spiritual womb or cave of the arrangement from disintegrating, but what heart in order to emerge into the light of divine made it so unbreakable, and therefore unfair, grace and wisdom; an earthly mapping of was that religion, and ritual practice in the divine celestial dwellings; an ideal microcosm name of religion, were brought in to legitimize of the macrocosm of the world; a pure and that ordering (Mokashi-Punekar, 2002:v). purifying locus of life’s various polluting. But it is more. It has always been a social centre for Thus, Hinduism with the high discourse of the worshipping community - though usually to transcendentalism has not learned anything from the the exclusion of ‘untouchables’ who have had radical saint-poets. And therefore, Hindus have to to establish their own places of worship - whether in a village or urban centre. Great constantly move on from one pilgrimage to another to temples have been occasional and permanent achieve their goals in life. Some undertake journeys for employers with respect to innumerable an immediate gain, others for an eternal peace, moksha, the liberation of the soul. As Julius Lipner, the author

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occupations - of many priests involved in Pilgrims were walking away from the city next temple ritual, dancer-singers, musicians, morning as I was being rickshawed in from its builders, carpenters, sculptors, water-carriers outskirts. A long procession of men in saffron and sprinklers, cleaners, and a host of other lunghis strode behind each other in a artisans and functionaries (Lipner, 1994:279). disciplined file, their naked torsos smeared copiously with ash, every man carrying a If this is the case, the lower castes, particularly bundle on his shaven head; but it was labouring Dalits, contribute much more to the impossible to tell whether these were functioning of temple culture than the upper castes. So penitential burdens or merely belongings borne why prevent them from entering the temples? conveniently. They were eccentric figures in an urban landscape marching steadily off into the countryside, quite possibly to another holy Conclusion place. People made pilgrimages the length and breadth of this vast nation, very often the hard As I have tried to show, Hinduism is full of way in order to increase their virtue, and contradictions. What the scriptures of Hinduism dictate because they had one day made a simple vow, is not followed in the true spirit by the upper caste on impulse, in gratitude, or because it seemed Hindus. That is why they have invented the caste expedient to do so. In Trivandrum I had system in order to control the growing aspirations of watched two men, dressed in a style alien to the lower castes. But caste monopolies are not always Kerala, striding purposefully along with staves, obviously heading south; they were from tolerated by the lower castes. While the powerless Andhra Pradesh, probably on their way to among them meekly accept the dictum and dictations Kanya Kumari. People would travel in similar of the upper caste monopoly, when they come together fashion from South India to the great Gangetic they challenge the caste hegemonies in more than one plain, simply to bathe in the sacred river then to way. Indian history is a witness to these types of bring back some of its precious water in a challenges, for example in the form of Buddhism, the garish plastic bottle. Many of them hoped they radical bhakti movements, Dalit movements, and might die beside Ganga Mai before they turned through religious conversions from Hinduism to for home again; for such would be the best assurance of all that moksha would be theirs.’ Christianity, Islam and Buddhism. In spite of many challenges a large number of the lower caste population are followers of Hinduism, and like other Hindus they also undertake religious pilgrimages for various reasons. But, while undertaking these pilgrimages they are never treated as equals by their upper caste brethren. Instances of caste discrimination can be seen in every religious setting. For example, in Hindu temples, the Dalits are not allowed to enter into the sanctum sanctorum. Unfortunately, people of the lower caste are treated as slaves even today. They are mostly engaged in the menial and manual work of the temples. And most of the time when the upper castes undertake a religious pilgrimage, it is the duty of the lower castes to look after their comforts by contributing their labour. Thus, whenever the upper castes become pilgrims, travelling the length and breadth of India, caste also travels with them.

Against all these odds, however, there is hope, for undertaking a pilgrimage there is a chance to meet the Lord. Pilgrimage for the lower castes is therefore centred on hope and hope alone. I conclude my paper by citing a reference from Moorhouse (1994:119) when he describes his chanced encounter with a band of pilgrims in Madurai, a temple town in South India:

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